


A Girl and Her Two Best Friends

by MikodDragonFire



Series: Elaine and Jarad [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: AU, Best Friends, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Gonna miss Pizza, Just role with it, Loot everything, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Memories from Another Life, Modern Boy in Thedas, Modern Girl in Thedas, Multi, Not gonna question why Thedas is a thing right now, Protective bro, Romance?, Solas has a nice ass, Solas has pretty eyes, Solas is an Egg, There is a big green hole in the sky, Transformation, Two Inquisitors, We gonna fix it, We gonna need it, Wolf Companion, and ice cream, explaining things, humor?, ish, might get deep later, violence?, we all gonna be friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-06-06 21:23:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6770449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MikodDragonFire/pseuds/MikodDragonFire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the sun sets she falls only to rise with the wolf’s longing howl. Strong, bold, and with magic how does she fare? Will she rise above the sun or fall with the moon?</p>
<p>Or in which a modern girl from Cleveland comes to Thedas with her two best friends, one of which isn’t even human and the other has had a serious makeover.</p>
<p>Oh, well she guesses she did to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Always the Dog

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> 'thoughts'  
> "Speaking"

~Chapter 1(Prologue)~

Tap Tap Tap SLAM

“Finally!” A late teenage looking girl exclaims throwing her hands up into the air with a flourish after typing the last pieces of her sentence and slamming her small black laptop closed....and then she lost her balance and fell back first to the carpeted floor of her bedroom, bringing her chair and laptop with her. The laptop even smacked her on the nose on the way down.

“Ugh…” A large and fluffy mass of mostly white fur splashed with light brown puddles bounds up to her face and starts licking it all over.The clearish white slobber is spread all over her and it smells… a lot.

“Dex! Stop it!” She yells trying to get her damned dog to stop spreading his slobber all over her pale face and dark red curly hair that reaches the middle of her back in a messy way.

As she is still getting attacked by the fluffy monster that is her dog she hears her bedroom door open. Then a low laugh sounds through the room and the girl swears it even echos back at her over and over again.

“Don’t just stand there and laugh at me! Shut your mouth and help me! Brother, please, don’t let me die like this!” She pleads with her bright emerald green eyes reaching with her hands up towards him for help.

A man with short and curly dark brown hair walks into the room, still laughing at her with his dark brown eyes. “As you wish.” He grabs the girl’s hands and pulls her up quickly… he then proceeds to throw her on her full bed that is draped in various shades of purple, from square pillows to large blankets that drag on the white carpeted floor. She lands with a quiet “Omph” 

“Ass,” She smiles up at him after she settles down, scooching over a bit to give him room to sit down.

“Bitch,” He grins in reply, plopping himself down next to her with a small bounce, “What's up?”

“I just finished that stupid project for the stupid AP class. Why are they so evil to me?” She frowns down at her innocent looking laptop still on the floor.

“Cause you're just not loved.”

“Ouch,” She makes a weird motion to her heart, “you make me feel pain here...where I'm supposed to have a heart.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Ella.”

“What, that I don’t have a heart?” She lightly punches his shoulder.

“Also don’t forget your non existent soul, dear sister… or THIS!”

The guy throws himself over Ella’s midsection and legs.

“NO! Don’t!” She desperately tries to plead with him fearing the evil that comes next.

He reaches his large hands out and attacks her side with wiggling fingers mercilessly.

“AHAHAHA STAHHP! PLEASE I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE. MERCY!” She begs desperately trying to wiggle out from underneath his larger body to escape her torture. 

"Their shall be no mercy!" He exclaims.

After a few minutes of loud laughter and please for mercy he stops tickling Ella and rolls off her and over onto his back next to her breathing with slightly deeper breathes.

“...You have a real strong kick sis.”

She turns her head slightly and grins wickedly at him, “I know.” she says smugly.

After a few minutes of deep breathing and peaceful silence, Ella quickly throws herself up and runs into her closet, “I finally got my game back from Aaron! It’s been awhile do you want to play it?” She asks bending over and digging into a plastic back. She pulls out a slightly worn but obviously well preserved game case.

“We play together,” He says, rolling of the bed and onto the soft carpet.

“Woo! We should play as-”

“We’re playing as a qunari.” 

“But-”

“Qunari.”

“...Fine, but you’re buying dinner!”

“Already did, the pizza should be here in about 20 minutes.”

Ellas throws herself to the ground, wraps arms around the guy, and pulls him into a tight friendly hug, “I love you so much!”

“Yeah, Yeah. Start the game already...DEX! Stop eating that controller!” He says pointing his finger straight at Dex who only glances up briefly and then goes back to destroying his new toy.

Ella sighs and goes to grab a different controller. ‘Stupid dog, always eating my controllers...they cost me money damn it!’

`~A few hours later~

“There! Qunari mage created.” Ella grins, a piece of ham and bacon pizza in hand with a big messy bite taken out of the side of it “what should we name him?”

“Hodor,” the guy says without hesitation as he licks his fingers clean of red sauce.

“No.” She takes another bite of her tasty pizza.

“Sam” Swallow.

“To generic, and boring” Bite

“Terminator: the master of life” Swallow

“...really?” Ella looks at him like he’s stupid...while she holds her piece of melty cheese pizza comically close to her open mouth, “How about just terminator?”  
“Naw, not nearly cool enough”

Ella sighs, finishing her pizza and putting her hand to her head, “...what about Jarad?”

“Sure, even if it is a bit too close to my name.”

“YES! Besides Jared is a good name.”

“Keep thinking that.”

“I will!”

“Just hit the damn play button already,” Jared says making a rude gesture with his hand.

“Ok, ok,” Ella laughs then turns to the screen, she presses play…

And…

…

…

Nothing happens.

“Is it broken? Did that bastard break my game! He's in for a-”

Suddenly a bang of loud thunder sounds throughout the room.

The dog jumps up and knocks into the table causing the game system to come crashing to the floor, much like its old laptop buddy still sitting on the floor in Ella’s room.

The screen goes black.

“Aw, come on! What the-” And then so does Ella and Jared’s world.

~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~`~

Ella wakes up feeling a pounding in her head and really cold, except for the feel of a warm presence at her back. ‘Shit, did Jared get me drunk? He could have at least put a blanket around me, that bastard! I can’t even open my eyes.’

After a few more vain attempts to open her eyes, Ella finally gets one of them to open slightly, and she takes a look around. All she sees is stone, it’s cold and colored a dark grey with a slightly green light bouncing of some parts of the walls.

‘Wait? Green light. Where is it coming from?’

Ella tries to move her neck but is stopped by a sudden sharp pain appearing in her lower neck, so she stops. She groans lowly and tries again, and again, and again. ‘Can’t do anything if I don’t even know where I am.’

Finally able to turn her head down a bit she sees two hands, and both are glowing a bright crackling green. 

Then she realizes something else, one of the hand belongs to her, and the other to a giant man attached to her back by rope. 

‘Holy Shit! I’ve been kidnapped!’

“The knife ear is awake!” Ella hears a voice call, “Get the seeker!” A blunt object slams deeply into the back of her skull.

Then Ella, once again, knows no more.

 

~somewhere else~

An all white wolf with light brownish/red eyes tries to stand up on his legs, and falls face down in the snow. It tries a few more times before he is able to walk with a wobble slightly before falling down again. It sits up on its legs and lets loose a loud howl into the night. The wolf is lost and wants his dearest mistress back by his side.

A small black piece of cloth peaks up from his fluffy white neck that has the name DEXTER sown on in an off-white color.

The howl sounds again, but still receives no answer in return.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :3 comment please! I want to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Ella is going to be paired with Solas(That damned egg)
> 
> Who should Jared be paired with? It’s going to either be either Cassandra, Dorian, or Bull. TELL ME WHO YOU WANT!
> 
> :3 also Dex is now a wolf because yeah...but he is still a big baby who loves Ella.
> 
> ALSO! Some game dialogue will be present...but with my own personal touch ;)
> 
> ALSO!! The main focus of this story is Ella, but lots of Jared and others to be had in the future
> 
> Love you all my lovelies~  
> Miko


	2. LOOK! A pretty green light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fights, bonding, and what the hell is going on?

~Chapter 2~

Ella woke up to pain.

A searing pain ingrained deep into the palm of her right hand that then snaked it's way up her arm. It burned, crackled, and panged out in a frenzy of crazy feelings with every passing moment.

Ella thought this might be what death feels like if focused on one point of the body.

After a while, ‘what felt like eternity’, she finally grew used to the pain, ‘who was she kidding- she would never be used to this pain’, and looked around. 

She was in, well more like tied tightly, to a chair, and in the middle of a stone room none the less. The only light in the room was coming from two torches on either side of her, and a small slit near the a top of a large wooden door in front of her.

Ella heard footsteps echoing out from behind the stone walls, then the light from the door blinked out of existence. The door opened without a single squeak as it slid against the smooth stone floor. No, it screeched instead. ‘Oww...it’s almost as bad as nails on a chalk board.’

In stepped a severe looking woman with black hair and dark narrowed eyes carrying a large metal shield, designed with a really weird looking white eye. and a sword strapped onto her back. Her face was set into an incredibly angry glare...and it was directed towards Ella. After her grand and intimidating entrance, a quieter and softer looking woman trailed in with a hood covering almost all of her face, but you could see light red strands peeking out. Her steps practically oozed danger and deadly grace, and her eyes were calm, yet they burned with an anger that matched the warrior woman.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill both of you now,” she demands angrily as she and the other woman stalk around Ella in a slow and steady circle.

‘Both?’ 

Just then Ella realizes she was not alone. To her right was a giant man with a set of huge, shiny grey curled horns, a little bit of dark brown hair, and deep dark purple eyes that stared sleepily at their capturers. 

‘Is that a qunari? What the hell…’

“Wha-”

The warrior woman slams her hands into the sides of the chair and gets in both of their faces. She grabs Ella’s right hand and the qunari’s left hand, jerking them upwards violently. They stay seated only because of the tight ropes, and even they strain against the power and force behind the warrior woman's strong hands.

“Explain This!” She demands.

“I-I can’t” Ella exclaims, and she really can’t all she remembers is being about to play Drag-

‘Oh my God, this is the opening on Dragon age Inquisition! Why can’t I remember what happened? Oh yeah the nightmare stole them when- I still can’t remember. But I remember the story line...mostly.’

“What do you mean you can’t!” She yells and raises her hand as if to punch Ella straight in the jaw.

The other woman steps up and grabs her wrist-’Liliana’- “We need them Cassandra.” She looks deeply into the dark stormy eyes of the warrior.

“We only need one of them,” she growls out as she reaches for her sword.

Ella feels her insides freeze at that, then anger seizes her in it’s cold icy grip, “If you touch him I won’t help you,” she growls, but then calms down slightly, “...but if you don’t then I will do my best to help with whatever happened.” She finishes softly.

‘Why did she feel so protective of this man? They never met before...right?’

A deeper voice rings out slightly groggy, “Same on my side, but you know, for her.” It is filled with all the protectiveness of an older brother…’Older brother? Could it be? Was she not alone?’

Ella recognizes that voice, though i seems a bi deeper “Jared?”

“Its Jarad, in proper Qunlat,” Liliana helpfully supplies.

“I-I’m sorry, it seems my voice cracked a bit,” She quickly covers for herself awkwardly, ”...but... Jarad, is that really you?”

“Yeah its me. Ella?”

‘I’m so fucking happy, I’m not alone. I got my best friend and brother right here by my side!’

“Yeah…it’s me,” Ella grins widely at Jared...well... Jarad now.

“What do you remember?” Liliana asks, slightly less hostile than before, but still pretty angry because of her unanswered questions and despair over her recent loss.

Jarad answers, “I remember being with Ella. We were eating dinner together...I can’t remember where. Then running...then it’s blank”

Ella picks up where he left off, “We we running, and things were chasing us. Then...a woman? She was...I-I can’t remember.” Ella shakes her head, then gasps in pain as a pain shoots up her arm and into her very heart. ‘So much for being heartless.’ She thinks bitterly.

Jarad also gasps out slightly in pain and then takes a slight pained inhale through his lungs.

Both hands flare the brightest of greens for a moment.

Cassandra gives them both a long searching and judgeful look, then abruptly turns towards Liliana, “I’ll take them to the forward camp. If we have any chance it must be them,” She states.

“I will meet you there.” Liliana says then turns on her heel and walks straight out the dungeon door.

Cassandra grabs roughly at the ropes tying Ella and Jarad to the chair and cuts most of them away, but leaves the ones around their hands to keep them bound. She pulls them both up and makes them walk in front of her. She leads them out from the cell, for that was what it was, and through a large church like building-’Chantry’- and out into the sunlight. 

Ella and Jarad take a moment to adjust to the sunlight before they realize they are being glared at by the many, many, angry people around them.

“They blame us for something,” Jarad says as he gets closer to you in a protective way.

“I- Holy Shit!” Ella says looking up with wide terrified and awed eyes. In the middle of the sky, high up in the air, is a giant vortex of swirling bright green with random bursts of a darker shade all crowding around a central bursting point in the sky. “What is that!”

“That is what we are calling the breach, a large hole into the fade that is spitting out demon after demon over and over again.” Says Cassandra as they step out of the gates of the town-’Haven’- and onto an old dirt path that looked frequently traveled. 

Cassandra takes out a small, sharp knife and cuts the rope off of Jarad’s large hands, then Ella’s smaller ones.

“That Breach thing seems like a problem.” Jarad says, staring up into the sky, “and one I won’t feel right about if I don’t help solve it.”

“Agreed,” states Ella as she starts walking forward, “We should get moving.” Ella moves to walk up a hill, “AHH!” She falls to the ground in pain, clutching at her burning hand. She barely notices Jarad going down as well a little bit behind her. Cassandra clasps onto Ella’s elbow and pulls her up.

“The Breach is killing you,” She says, a bit of sympathy in her dark eyes, “as it expands so does the marks on both of your hands.”

Jarad stands up and shares a look with Ella, “We understand.” They say together. 

Cassandra looks at both the prisoners with surprise and a new sort of respect, then she huffs slightly and continues on. 

Jarad and Ella trail on behind her, sharing a small smile and a quick hug. The whispered words of brother and sister unspoken and unheard to anyone but themselves.

Then they come across a stone bridge.

Now, nothing is quite remarkable about this bridge. It is made of normal grey stone, and is built very simply, but sturdily. Nothing special.  
...Until a bomb of sickly green and black hurls into it, breaking down stone into dust in less than a second, and it just so happens that Cassandra, Jarad, and Ella were walking in the exact middle of the bridge at that moment.

In a second all they felt was the freedom of free falling…

...and then Ella landed harshly on her hands and knees, scraping them slightly, not enough to draw blood, on the uneven and cold ice. Cassandra rolls into a crouch on the impact, so she doesn’t take any injuries. Jarad just falls straight onto his ass as it makes a loud THUMP.

Another magical green bomb hits a few feet away, but this time a sickly looking hunched figure with a old, ratty black cloak pops out.

“Demons!” Shouts Cassandra as she unshieves her sword and grabs her large shield. Then she goes rushing into to battle the demon.-’Shade’-

Another bomb hits directly in front of Jarad, and Ella quickly look behind her to see a pair of rusty daggers and a beat up staff. Running to where the weapons are, Ella grabs them both, and suddenly gets a bit of information, or perhaps a memory.

~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~`~  
“Da’len you must feel the blade as an extension of yourself. It is a part of you. NOW! ATTACK ME ,AGAIN!” An old man, an elf, yells at a small elvhen child with white hair and large green eyes.”

Without a word the young girl takes her wooden dagger, falls into a loose stance, and tries to hit the elder man, but is quickly knocked off her feet by his wooden staff and onto the grassy ground.

“AGAIN!”

Then the scene changes to the girl again, slightly older now, and a woman dressed in robes lined with fur and a beautiful light grey staff on her back that carries a glowing violet stone wrapped up and intertwined within a wooden cage at the top of the staff. She crouches down slightly in front of the young girl.

“Da’len you are a mage. You must put down your sharp daggers and take up a sturdy staff.”

“No. I don’t want to, I love my daggers. Please keeper, don’t make me do this,” The girl begs looking up into the eyes of her keeper.

“Deshanna. I don’t see why she can’t learn both ways to fight,she would probably be all the stronger for it,” the old man appears from behind a tree carrying a pair of wrapped daggers, “she is more than capable.”

“But it will be a distraction from her duties to be a keeper when she is older, she will be-”

“She will be who she wants to be,” He says with an air a decision,”if you do not let her learn both tactics we will leave and never come back to the clan Deshanna. You hear my words, will you heed them?”

“Ma nuevenin,” Deshanna says with a sneer as she turns and stalks away in a fit of anger,” but I am still the keeper and my teachings take precedence over yours.”

The old man looks at the girl and gives a wicked grin, “Well come on then Da’len let's train!”

The girl looks at him for a moment then grins widely, “Ma Serannas, Hahren!” She flies into him and gives him a hug.

“It was no problem, Da’len. Let’s go to the meadow now.Oh,” He stops and hands the pair of finely sharpened daggers to the girl, “These are yours now. Treat them well, and we will start training with them next week.”

“Yes, Harhen!” She admires the blades. They appear to be polar opposites of each other in almost every way. One blade is a darkened obsidian black color that reflects the light and glints a deep purple in the light. It’s hilt is extravagantly wrapped with a thick and sturdy Crimson red cloth, and it’s blade is slightly curved to the left. The other blade is a gleaming silver that is so polished it almost seems to glow white. The wrapping on this blade are a deep ocean blue that wraps in a steady and straight pattern over the hilt of the blade. The cloth is thin, but strong, and the blade curves slightly to the right.

The scenes play out training from both the old man and the keeper. The girl is taught how to both use magic and wield her twin daggers. 

The second to last scene shows the girl, now a barley young adult, kneeling before the keeper. Her white hair has grown longer, down to the middle of her back, and is slightly wavy. She now has some womanly curves, and her eyes are a bright shade of emerald with bits of blue peeking through. Over her left eye is the stark Vallaslin for Sylaise in black, which contrasts amazingly against her pale skin. 

“Are you ready to undertake this task da’len?”  
“Yes, keeper.”

“Then go with the blessing of the Gods, may Mythal protect you, Elgar’nan guide you, and Dirthamen keep your secrets. May the dread wolf never hear your steps, Da’len. Dareth Shiral.”

“Dareth Shiral,” the woman echoed and turned away from the keeper. She walked to a tree that had the old man next to it holding a pack.

“Hahren,” she greets.

“Da’len,” he replies,” while you are gone I have a task for you.”

“What is it?”

“Learn how to channel you magical energy onto your daggers and fight with them. With this shem war going on you will want to hide the fact that you’re a mage, so act the rogue. I won’t be here if you come back, I have nothing left to teach you.” He says staring into her eyes and it seemed to her, her very soul.

“H-harhen! Why won’t you be here?” She asks confused.

The old man laughs, “I’m old Da’len, it is time for me to pass on. I’ll join your parents on the other side and look over you, alright? Be careful and wary out there. Dareth Shiral”

The girl hugs the old man, “Dareth Shiral.” she says softly.

The girl then grabs the pack and turns around to start her long and dangerous journey.

The very last images to flash by were the girl following the old man’s advice and learning to mold her magic into her daggers for battle so that she could cast and slice at the same time. Then hiding her daggers in a magically sealed bag under the roots of a large tree pressed against its center. 

~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~`~

Ella blinked and suddenly realized that she was still in the middle of battle...with a demon. She remembered -Learned?- how to fight using her daggers, and she is a mage!

She then realized that she held a staff in one of her hands….and Jarad was still in danger from the shade that was still breathing it's rotting breath in his face.

‘He was supposed to be a mage right?’

“Oi! Jarad, catch!” She threw the staff at him and he caught it with one hand, and then stilled for a second before attacking the shade with blasts of fiery magic.

At the same time another shade appeared in front on Ella, and she immediately knew what to do.

She trusted her instincts.

She slashed out with one of the daggers left, then slashed right, then plunger forwards with a knife straight into the ghostly stomach of the shade. Pulling her blade free, and with it some black sticky goop, she kicked out with her leg, enhancing it lightly with magical energy, and hits the shades lower body, causing it to be slightly knocked back and stunned for a few seconds.

Then a staff came out from behind the shade and smashed into the shades head causing it to dispel into wisps of smoke and vapor. Jarad was standing right there, breathing slightly heavy, with violet eyes burning like a dyed flame. 

Jarad looked deep into her wild green eyes, a question burning in their depths.  
‘Did you just learn to fight through a weird memory thing?’

Ella tilted her head down slightly in a nod and smiled lightly.

‘Holy Shit! So did I!' He grins widely at her and is about to say something aloud when-

“Drops your weapons, NOW!” Cassandra yells pointing the sharpened edge her sword at Jarad’s throat threateningly.

“We will not be defenseless,” He states in a low growl as he glares into Cassandra's eyes.

Cassandra stays frozen for a few moments, assessing the meaning behind Jarad's eyes before sighting, “You’re right I can’t protect you. I should remember you agreed to help and haven’t tried to run...Yet.”

“And we won’t ‘try to run’ where would we even run to? We agreed to help, we won’t abandon this now. Besides this threatens more than just the people here if what you said is true. All people will be affected by this if we don’t stop it, now, “ Ella says strapping her new daggers to her back. 

Jarad just swings his staff onto his back and makes a grunting sound of agreement as it clings there magically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Translations~
> 
> Da’len- Little one/ child  
> Ma serannas- My Thanks/ Thank you  
> Ma nuevenin- As you wish  
> Dareth Shiral- Safe Journey/ a farewell
> 
>  
> 
> Yay bonding with Cassandra and weird brother sister/ best friend communication. 
> 
> Also fighting and learning how to do said fighting through weird memories.
> 
> Double mages are a go, but Ella has some sweet daggers...now she just has to find them.
> 
> Also! I’ll try and update twice a week, but at least once will happen!
> 
> Give me any feedback in some comments please!!
> 
> Love~  
> Miko


	3. Meetings, Pretty Eyes, and Asses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says all...

~Chapter 3~

“Let's continue on.” Ella says smiling softly to herself as she turns and starts to walk.

So the small band of fighters continue on, they go up a hill and walk over some more of the frozen lake.

Ella glances around and gaps slightly. She sees an amazingly beautiful blend of icy blues and whites under her feet, all angled so deeply together you couldn’t see where one color ended and another began. The trees dotting the edges of the lake and clustering up on the tops of the cliffs were so full and vibrant even in this cold and dangerous world. Small colorful plants sat by the shoreline of the lake, growing bright and full in shades of purple and blue.

‘It really is beautiful, and the air is so clean! So unlike home...home. Will I ever return to it?’

Shaking off that question Ella looks around closely for a second.

‘Weren’t their lootable things here? I’m sure we could use every little thing we find around here.’

...Then jumps slightly in surprise when she sees something sparkle in gold out of the side of her eye.

A deep voice whispers near her ear, “What is it sis?”

Turning her head to look at Jarad, “Focus on your surroundings like you’re looking for something and think about loot.”

Jarad glances around and then looks back at ella, “I don’t-What the Hell!” He exclaims loudly.

Cassandra glances back at them with a look of disapproval, “Come on, we must move on.”

“One moment,” Yells Jarad then looks back at Ella, “You see the sparkling stuff too right? I’m not going crazy,” He says low enough only for them to hear.

“Yep...besides you’re already crazy... so you don’t need to worry that much,” She smiles wickedly up at him. 

Jarad laughs slightly,”Well look at that, a pot calling the kettle black.”

She shrugs then walks over and lightly touches a pile of sparkling stuff. In her mind’s eye she sees a list of items and suddenly just knows where to find it in the pile. She grabs everything and turn to Jarad to see he is bending over a elfroot as he gathers a few leaves. 

She once again glances around and sees two bodies a little ways away next to a tree, they look like a man and a woman that were trying to escape this madness.’I’m sorry that this is how you had to go, hopefully you find a better life in the next one.’ Next to them are two worn looking brown leather backpacks. One stuck on the lowest branch of the tree. Running over she grabs both of them and throws one of them at Jarad. He nods his thanks as he stuffs his newly acquired elfroot in the bag.

Along the way Ella now stops and quickly loots all the bodies they come across and Jarad picks all the elfroot that he can find and they both simply say that this will be useful later when asked by Cassandra.

Cassandra makes a disgusted sound at them but lets them do it because they are quick about it and it actually might be useful, she knows, even if it slows them down slightly. Then she realizes that Jarad is slightly limping and favoring his left leg with each step. “Halt, “ she calls and grabs a red potion bottle from her side pack, “Take this poultice. It will heal your pain.”

Jarad grabs the bottle from her, “how do I use it?”

Cassandra looks at him like he’s an idiot, “Why? Have you never used one before? That’s stranger for a qunari mage. You drink all of it in one go, don’t waste any of it.”

Jarad looks at the poultice, “Why all at once? Why not use it sparingly, so you can heal more people?” He asks.

“It doesn’t work like that,” Cassandra huffs in frustration, “you have to finish it all as soon as you open it because 5 second after it comes into contact with the air it doesn’t work anymore. Once the body of the potion is made, the main ingredients are elfroot and embrium, a little bit of prophet’s laurel is added in after the main portion is in the bottle. The bottle is then magically sealed and shaken. Something happens when the prophet’s laurel is added so that it can no longer function as a healing potion after it comes into contact with air for a few minutes.”

Ella and Jarad just look at Cassandra like she grew another head. ‘I thought that elf guy was supposed be the all knowing one….what was his name again?’

“Just drink the potion,” she growls turning away, but Ella can see the slight blush dusting her features.

Jarad pops open the poultice potion and drowns it quickly, “It actually doesn’t taste that bad,” he muses. 

“Drop the bottle,” Cassandra says.

“What! But that's littering, “Ella shouts with a frown, “You’ll destroy Thedas!”

This time Cassandra looks at Ella with a dumbfounded face, “The bottle is magic, it will disintegrate as soon as it hits the floor. Watch.”

Jarad drops the empty glass bottle onto the floor and as soon as it makes contact with the icy ground beneath it disappears leaving only a second of glittering dust in it’s wake. 

“Oh,” says Ella,”...that’s pretty neat. Sorry I doubted you Cassandra.”

“Nice,” says Jarad looking at where he dropped the bottle contemptibly. 

“I- you can hear the sound of them fighting. We must help them.” Cassandra takes of running.

“Who’s them?” Ella asks following her, Jarad right on her heels.

“You’ll see”

They ran with a burst of speed over the hill’s ridge and straight into a battle between demons, humans, a really short man, and a bald egg-shape headed elf. 

Quickly they were drawn into the battle and Ella disappeared into the fray in a burst of darkness while Jarad backed her up swiftly with magical blasts of fire, and Cassandra drew the gaze of the demons to her so she could act as the focus of their powerful fury.

Ella glanced around after each death blow she dealt and barely saw a shade come up behind the bald elf.

“Oi! Baldy, duck.” She yelled, then used his shoulder as leverage and vaulted over him and plunged her dagger deep into the throat of the shade behind him. The shade twitched for a moment before disappearing. Ella turned her head and gave the elf a light smirk, her green eyes flashing brightly as she took in his form.

“Hey,” she greets almost casually, then is off again as she runs over by Jarad to cover his blind side.

The elf just blinks once at her in confusion before continuing to cast ice at the demons. Then he casts a barrier over the group, sets a few glyphs on the floor before him and attacks again.

The battle rages on for a bit more before Cassandra cuts down the last demon in a vicious swipe of her blade to its neck, and Ella and Jarad wonder closer to the rift.

The bald elf- ‘Why can’t I remember his name?’- Grabs her right right hand and thrusts it toward the green crack in the world. -’rift’-

“Quickly,” He shouts, “Before more come through!”

Ella can feel a cool sensation winding up her arm and through her hand then- 

Pain, a wrenching stab of pain shoots through her body, chattering her teeth, and making her gasp.

Then it is gone...and so is the green rift.

“Ow…” Ella mumbles snatching her hand back and rubbing it, “What did you do?”

“I did nothing. The credit is yours.”

Jarad speaks up, “You mean this?” He raises his hand slightly, looking the elf straight in the eyes.

“Whatever cause the breach also put those marks in your hands,” the elf says.

Ella and Jarad share a look, then both shrug simultaneously. “If it helps close these things…”

“Cassandra,” He turns to look at her, “Your prisoners are both mages, but I doubt even a pair of them could have amassed enough power to have caused the breach.”

Cassandra gives him a long look before briefly nodding,”Could they seal the breach?”

“Possibly.”

The small person-’dwarf’- spoke up, “Good to know, and here I thought we’d be ass deep in demons forever.”

“Whose ass?” Asks Ella with a upwards turn of her lips, “If it's yours most of us would only be knee deep, and I for one like those chances a lot better.” Ella shoots a look at Jarad, “Or ankle deep for this hunk of flesh and bone here.”

Jarad rests his elbow on Ella’s head, “I’ll be sure to let you on my shoulders to save ya. Besides this is all muscle”

“Bite me, Jarad, and get your heavy ass hand off my head.”

“Whose ass?” He smirks down at her.

Ella glares up at him, but he could see the brilliant laughter in his eyes.”Mine obviously, it IS the best one currently present.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

“Obviously.”

The dwarf laughs loudly as he slings his crossbow onto his back, “Varric Tethras, Rogue, Storyteller, and occasionally unwelcome tag along.” He winks at Cassandra.

Ella smiles at him, “Nice ta meet ya Varric. My names Ella.”

Jarad nods at him, “Call me Jarad.”

The elf chuckles, “You may regret that stance in time.” He states as he leans lazily onto his staff.

“I’m sure we’ll become great friends in the valley, chuckles.”

Cassandra steps up,”Absolutely not! While your help was appreciated Varric, you are no longer-”

“Your people aren’t in control anymore Seeker. You need me, besides Bianca here will be great company in the Valley.” Cassandra makes a disgusted noise. 

“You’ve named your crossbow Bianca,” Jarad asks looking at the finley made crossbow with approval.

“What else would I call her?” Varric smiles slyly.

“What’s the story behind that one?”

“The only one that I will never tell.”

Jarad smirks at Varric, “I’ll get it out of you, all I need is a lot of strong drink.”

Ella rolls her eyes, “That would be my job because I can hold my drink better than you, Jarad. Remember what happened last time?”

The qunari's already grey face pales, "You promised never to speak of that again."

The bald elf smiles lightly, but Ella can see the amusement blaring out in his eyes, “My name is Solas, if their are to be introductions. I am pleased to see that you both still live” ‘His eyes are blue, no grey, no...is that purple?’

Varric smiles widely and gestures with his hands, “He means, I kept those marks from killing you while you slept.”

Jarad looks at Solas and nods his head slightly, “Thanks.”

Ella shakes her head slightly and smiles brightly at him, “Thank You! Though you seem to know quite a bit about all of this, do you have any tips?” She looks into his eyes. ‘Such pretty eyes…’

“You have pretty eyes, “ She blurts out before slapping a hand over her mouth and blushing slightly in embarrassment,”I ah… Shut up Jarad.”

Jarad laughs crazily holding his stomach, and Varric laughs lightly. Cassandra simply raises an eyebrow and gives Ella a look a incredulity. Solas’ eyes slightly widen and a very light blush overtakes the tips of his ears.

“Ah, Thank You.” He says after a moment before glancing away and clearing his throat.

Ella laughs awkwardly as she scratches the back of her head, “We should...We should get a move on.” She turns and starts heading away.

“Agreed, “Jarad starts, “...We wouldn’t want you getting lost in ‘pretty eyes’ now would we, sister.” He smirks looking over at her.

Ella shoots a look at him and smacks him lightly on the arm, “Shut up,” She mumbles. 

Then they all starts walking to continue on the mountain path...but realize the way is blocked by a barricades of wooden boxes and a wheel. 

Ella shoots a look to Jarad, who shrugs his massive shoulders as if to say I don’t understand it either.

“Why put up a barricade on the path? It’s not going to stop the demons who can float right over it…”Ella says walking to the barricade and poking the wheel.

“It is for...you know I don’t really understand it either,” Cassandra says shaking her head, “But we have to get over it.”

Cassandra throws her sword and shield over the barricade before swinging her legs over while bracing her weight on her hands and elbows. She lands on the other side with a slight click as her worn black scaled leather boots hit the cold scrambled bits of stone stone beneath her.

“O-Over it,” Jarad asks with a sputter, “You do realize I’m a giant qunari right? Me and throwing myself over something don’t really mix well.”

“Neither do short legs. Give me a hand over Shiny?” Varric asks.

“Shiny?” Jarad says slightly in surprise even as he grabs Varric by his arms and hefts him over the Barricade.

“Yeah it's your new nickname. I give almost everyone I know one.”

“Ohh, What's mine?” Ella looks enthusiastically at Varric. ‘I always wanted to be given a nickname by Varric I wonder what it will be!’

“Bright, cause of your award winning personality of course.” 

Ella makes a slight face at that, “Can’t I have something more...badass?” 

“I thought you had a great ass?” Jarad says with a teasing smile.

“I do...but that's not the point…”

“Whatever you say. I still don’t know how I’m getting over this barricade.”

“What, you can’t be nimble and quick, maybe jump over a candle stick?” Ella asks Jarad once Varric in safely on the other side.

“My name’s Jarad not Jack, princess.”

“Don’t call me that!” Ella stares Jarad straight in the eye with a serious expression.

“...As you wish.” But his eyes say sorry, I shouldn’t have called you that.

Ella gives Jarad one last long, searching look before nodding and looking away, “Come on guys. We have a world to try to save.”

“Don’t try, do.” Jarad says with a mysterious and strong voice. 

Ella just rolls her eyes and raises one delicate eyebrow at Jarad, “No one wants your references...or is that a quote?” She wonders putting her hand to her chin in thought.

“I think it's both,” Jarad smiles crookedly at Ella, knowing he was forgiven for his earlier comment.

“Whatever, its still not wanted nor needed, so stick a cock in it.”

Everyone in the group stops and either laughs loudly(Varric), raises an eyebrow(Solas), or looks disgusted(Cassandra). 

Jarad just shrugs, “Maybe another time. You know, when we aren't saving the world.”

“Which won’t happen if we don’t move.” Cassandra interjects loudly from the other side of the barricade, not wanting to hear anymore.

‘Yes, Yes we have to go...not like anything really happens even if we just stay here...or would it? Does this actually have a conception of time...probably. So get moving? Sure.’

‘...I need to stop talking to myself in my head.’

Ella grabs onto the side of the wooden barricade and easily swings her legs over it and onto the other side. She flashed Jarad a small smirk, “Come on big guy.”

Jarad just rolls his eyes and looks contemptuously at the evil barricade.

Solas decides to follow everyone over the barricade and tosses his staff over it then vaults himself over in a similar manner to Ella, and she can’t help but stare at his ass when he bends over to quickly grab his staff of the ground before straightening. Solas glances over at her and she quickly looks away a small blush on her face.’That is one fine ass...mine is still better though.’

Jarad sends Ella a smirk before glancing back at his current problem. The bright light of brilliance seems to enter his eyes after a moment.

He brings his hands up the the front of the barricade at pushes with all his strength. His muscles bulge out slightly and he grunts a bit but the wood starts to crack and splinter under his powerful movements. With one last shove the middle chunk of the barricade pops out like a jagged puzzle piece.

Jarad smirks and moves to go through his newly mad passage…

RIP

...and his pants now sport a newly made passage…

Right on his left butt cheek.

Ella promptly breaks down into a fit of loud laughter.

‘And THIS is why there are so many torn trousers in Thedas!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously why are there so many pairs of torn trousers everywhere?
> 
> Cause Qunari try to fit their large asses into tight spaces…
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> Ella thinks Solas has pretty eyes and a nice ass, but we all do too so its ok
> 
> Love~  
>  Miko


	4. Anger, The Cold, and a pair of Gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> subtle flirting? not so subtle?
> 
> ehhh...Solas can actually do something other than be eye candy and save Ella's ass...kind of

~Chapter 4~

After getting a good laugh in at Jarad’s expense, Ella reaches into her backpack and grabs a pair of large pants that also have a tear in them, but on the right butt cheek. She hands them over to him with a small impish smile that flashed her teeth off slightly.

He takes them with a sharp glare and shoves them on over his other ripped pair, grumbling under his breath about pants, stupid wood, and how he hopes his wood doesn't tear his pants in the front next time…

‘Óh dear cheesecake...why does he do this?’

Once Jarad fixes his little problem the group moves on.

They fight a few more battles before arriving at a massive stone bridge with inhumanly large and ornate doors for a freaking bridge!

“Who needs doors that fucking big?” Ella asked staring at the large ten foot tall dark wooden doors.

“People who are obviously compensation for something,” Jarad says before the great wooden jaws are opened wide to let them in.

Ella and Varric chuckle lightly at that, Solas smiles a little, and Cassandra makes another one of her disgusted noises.

Cassandra takes lead for a moment and leads everyone to a Table that has Liliana pacing beside it and a man, dressed in a weird white and red robe thing that has gold accents, leaning on it with his forearms.

When he sees us approaching he straightens up, “Here they come.”

‘Oh, I remember this guy! What was his name...Rodger? Dick? Rick?’

Liliana stops pacing and turns to face us with a relieved smile on her face, but Ella can see the stress hidden there.

“You made it!” She exclaims,” Chancellor Roderick, this is-”

Roderdick cuts her off with a wave of his hand, “I know who they are.” He points a finger at Ella and Jarad, who is looking through a chest for loot a little while behind the group. Jarad pops his head out of the chest when he feels stares on him. He regards the finger pointing at him for a moment before shrugging, “Later this will be useful,” and then he goes back to rummaging through the chest.

Roderdick makes an offended sound before declaring, “As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry I demand that these two...criminals be taken to Val Royeaux immediately to face execution as punishment for their crimes!”

Cassandra looks indignant for a moment and starts to say something before Ella interrupts, “Where is your proof?”

Roderdick sputters for moment,”P-Proof? We don’t need proof, you and that- that Qunari are obviously responsible for all of this!” His face goes all red.

Jarad walks calmly up to stand beside Ella, “So you believe, but where is your proof? That we have a mark on our hands that is killing us? That we survived?”

“Yes!”

“Why would we want to kill ourselves slowly and painfully? There are better ways. Also as to why we survived? I have no idea, it could simply be a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Jarad says matter of factly.

“Why would we even want to kill your conclave? It was a chance for peace and all people- elves, dwarves, humans, and qunari- are being hurt right now. Violence it occurring at every corner, because your chantry failed to make peace with the mages.” Ella interjects.

Cassandra shoots Ella a slightly disapproving look, before the truth of the matter settles in her eyes and she looks down at the ground slightly ashamed.

Jarad continues, “Where we are from their is a thing that says under the law all people are innocent until proven guilty. Even if the evidence is damning, they still get a trial before being sent to death. Would you not even listen to our side of the story? Just assume that because of a little evidence that doesn’t even make sense that we did it just to get the guilt off of your chest? How inhumane of you, Chancellor. To kill the innocent and victimized” 

The chancellor sputters for a moment before looking angry again, “I-It doesn't matter! I order-”

Cassandra gets in his face then, “Order me! You are a glorifies Clerk, a Bureaucrat!” She scoffs angrily.

He looks shocked for a moment before replying with, “And YOU are a thug. A thug that supposedly serves the Chantry.”

“We serve the most holy, as you well know, chancellor,” Liliana interjects calmly.

“Justinia is dead!” He shouts then lowers his voice when a few fearful and sad looks are tossed to the group. “We must elect a new divine and obey her orders on the matter.”

Ella throws her hands up in frustration, “You want to do politics when the whole fucking world is in danger from a giant hole in the sky!? Dude, get your priorities right.”

“This is all your fault in the first place!”

“NO IT ISN’T,” Ella shouts drawing even more looks, “YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE ANY PROOF!. I DIDN’T BLOW A FUCKING HOLE IN THE SKY. YOU ACORN BRAINED ASS SHAT,” She finishes glaring angrily at the chancellor.

Jarad lightly grasps her shoulder in a firm hold before addressing Roderdick, “We didn’t destroy your conclave chancellor, we were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Roderdick scoffs loudly, “You expect me to believe that?” He scoffs before turning to Cassandra and his eyes soften slightly, “Please, end this before more lives are lost, Seeker.”

Cassandra shakes her head slightly, “We can stop this before it's too late.”

“How? You won’t survive long enough to even reach the temple, even with all of your soldiers.”

“We must get the temple, it's the quickest route.”

Liliana steps forward, “But not the safest. Our forces can charge as a distraction while we go through the mountains.”

“We lost contact with an entire squad on those mountains,” Cassandra rebuffs, “It is too risky.”

Roderdick interrupts again, “Listen to me please! Seek-” Then he is interrupted for once. 

Ella wished he wasn’t, even though she thought he just needed to shut the hell up for once, because what interrupted him was a pulse from the breach in the sky as it grew...and so did the marks on both her and Jarad’s hands. 

They pulsed and lashed out like green lightning for a moment before dying down to a faint glow.

‘It didn’t hurt as much this time. Is that a good or bad thing? I’m gonna stick with good, for the sake of my sanity.’’

Cassandra stares at their hands for a second before marching up to stand in front of them, “How do you think we should proceed?”

Jarad shakes his head in amusement, “You're asking us? Your prisoners?”

Solas interjects , “You both have the mark.” Ella rolls her eyes slightly before muttering under her breath, “No duh…”

Solas merely raises an eyebrow at her with a haughty look. ‘Why does he wook so sexy? He’s BALD! Bald people aren't supposed to be sexy…’

Ella feels heat at her cheeks and steps closer to Jarad, who looks down at her in slight brotherly amusement.

“You are the ones we must keep alive, so if we cannot agree…” Cassandra trails off.

“Why not do both?” Jarad states bluntly.

Ella looks at him in surprise, her blush gone, “Both?”

“Yes both, dear sister. One of us shall take the mountain path while the other charges.”

Cassandra looks about to scream when she starts to say, “Absolutely NOT! We need-”

“That actually might work, no?” Contemplates Liliana, “We shall see who was correct when we arrive at the temple.”

“Fine...that might work, “Ella says softly then makes a low humming noise, “We should each take a small group with us.”

“We should each have one person of every class, “ Jarad muses lowly.

“Hmm...I’ll take Solas and Cassandra then. You should take Varric and Liliana. We don’t have enough of each class to be even, but this set-up should work.”

Jarad frowns slightly then pouts, “But I wanted Cassandra…” Said person slightly blushed.

“But then I would be the only melee fighter on my team. You don't want me to be hurt because I’m the one doing all he close and personal fightin do you?” Ella asks trying to sound innocent, but failing miserably.

Jarad nods slowly after a minute and his frown turns more thoughtful, “...You should take the mountain path, I’ll charge with the soldiers.”

Ella looks ready to protest before she sees the logic in it, “As you wish brother...just make sure you come back to me alive ok?”

Jarad smirks at her a bit, “Of course I will, I would never forgive myself if I left you now.”

Ella takes a few quick steps before throwing her arms around Jarad’s midsection. “I love you, bro.”

Jarad his arms around Ella in return and smiles into her red locks, “Love you too sis.”

Reluctantly letting go of eachother they turn to the group of people who were nice enough to look away while they said their “see you laters”...well except Roderdick who stared at them in disgust, “You are even together! That is even more ‘evidence’ against you!”

SLAP

In a blink of an eye Ella was in front of the chancellor, “Don’t you dare presume to talk about things you know nothing about you mother fucking bastard! He is my brother in all things but blood, we are not together in any romantic shape or form. Just because a man and a woman worry about the safety of another means they half to be romantically involved? No, it doesn’t. It means that they simply care for eachother like a family you big headed moron. Just because you think you have all the answers mean nothing to-” She growls out at him, staring straight into his frightened muddy brown eyes with her own blazing green ones.

She feels a hand on her shoulder and quickly snaps her head to the side about to turn her fury on however dared to interrupt her rant when she sees and all of her raging fury leaves her at once.

“He is nothing, do not waste your breath on a meaningless man with nothing but scorn and prejudice in his heart. He is not worthy of even a single glance his way from you.”

Roderdick sputters in shock for a moment before a look from Cassandra silences him.

Ella stares into her brother’s dark eyes for a what seems like an eternity before nodding and turning away, “Let’s go Cassandra, Solas. We have a mountain path to wander across,” She pauses and turns her head slightly, “be safe brother, or I will find a way to bring you back to life so I can kill you.”

Then Ella lead the way to a small path that Liliana says will lead them to a passage through the mountains that heads straight to the temple.

Jarad looks after her a moment before turning to Varric and Liliana, “We should hurry….I want to be the one to get there first.”

~~~~~With Ella~~~~~

To say Ella was mad would be an understatement. To say she was angry would be inadequate. To say she was a rage demon would be a bit too much.

But to say she was she was livid? Yeah, if you had to say anything at all. Though most wouldn’t because you know, they actually want to live.

‘Why are people so damn stupid! Can’t they see that people should be able to fucking care about eachother without being in a relationship? Why do people always think Jarad and I are romantically involved? Yeah, I know he is good looking and maybe even sexy but... He is my brother! He has always been my brother and never anything more! I had hoped that maybe people would be smarter here in that regard...it seems I was wrong...again.’

‘...I need to hurt something, where the hell are the demons when you need them?’

Ella knew Cassandra and Solas were giving her worried looks, but she couldn’t bring herself to care as they climbed up a rocky mountain trail. This was the reason she hated people so much, no matter what race they always jumped to conclusions without understanding.

Ella sighed when they finally came to a system of ladders leading up into the sky, “I hope I don’t slip...Jarad would never let me live it down if that was how I died.’

Ella reached out and touched the cold wooden ladders before jerking her hand back. 

“Holy Shit! That’s cold.”

‘I know I picked up some gloves earlier…’ She digs through her pack looking for something to cover her hands, a few moments later she sighs quietly, ‘nothing.’

Suddenly a pair of dark forest green gloves are thrust right in front of her face. She follows the long, lightly muscled arms to see Solas without his gloves on. 

She frowns up at him, “Your hands will get cold, I can’t take your gloves, “ She protests waving her hands around slightly.

Solas smiles lightly down with her (She swears it was a smirk) and raises an auburn eyebrow elegantly before his hands glow slightly with a light reddish orange light for a brief moment, “I do believe that I will be fine, ‘ He smirks slightly then hesitate for a moment, “Ella.”

Ella switches between looking at the offered gloves and Solas’ face before nodding slightly and reaching out to take them from his hands, “Ma serannas, Solas” She smiles at him slightly before pulling on the gloves. They are slightly too big for her, but they will work to keep her hands from freezing as she gripped the hard wood.

She flexes her fingers for a moment before grabbing onto the ladder, but this time she didn’t feel anything except the warm fur on the inside of the gloves. 

While climbing up the ladders to reach the mountain pass solas starts up conversation...kind of.

“You are Dalish,” He observes, “Clearly away from the rest of your kind. Why did they send you here?”

“What do you know of the Dalish?” Asks Ella as she glances back at him.

“I have wondered many ruins in my time. I have crossed paths with the Dalish on more than one occasion.” He sounds a bit bitter.

“Crossed paths?”

“I mean I offered to share knowledge, only to be attacked without preservations.” ‘Definitely bitter… but I would be too if I was attacked.”

“Ir Abelas, then. I apologize for them, the fact that they would attack show just how far we have fallen. I hope to show you that not all Dalish are savages...just the majority” Ella smirks slightly.

Solas looked shocked for a moment before replying with, “Tel’abelas. You have nothing to be sorry for, it was not your actions but those of others that you have no control over.”

“Still…” She trails off, “They shouldn’t have acted like that. Like small children whose favorite toys were taken for a moment by an elder so that it could be fixed.”

“An interesting view point.” His small smile seems to actually reach his eyes this time.

“I try,” She smirks then looks at the last ladder before they reach the top, “Ohh, thank Yoda! We are almost at the top.”

Cassandra interjects from below her as she starts climbing up, “Who is Yoda?”

“A really old and short green man with huge ears, “ She says absentmindedly as she focuses on pulling herself over the edge of the platform, “He is also really wise.”

“A green man!?” Cassandra asks in shock as she climbs up after Ella, “Is he some sort of demon?”

Ella laughs loudly at that, “No, he just simply is. I suggest we leave it at that.”

“I have never seen a green man before,” mumbles Solas while he pushes himself up to stand when he reaches the top, “I think I might like to meet this Yoda one day.”

Ella smiles at him, “I’m sure you would have, but you can’t. Though he was very old and very wise he isn’t here right now.”

Solas stops, “My condolences. I am sorry for your loss.”

Ella shrugs, “It was a while ago.” ‘It’s been years since I have seen the movies’ She shakes herself off before starting for the carved hole in the mountain side, “We should hurry up, don’t want Jarad beating us there now would we?”

“No we can’t have that.”

Ella barks a laugh and turns her head to smile at her companions before heading past the dark, grayed with age, stone entrance into the mountain.

~With Jarad~

After beating a demon to death with his staff and lighting another one on fire as Varric fires bolt after bolt into them and Liliana digs her daggers deep into the soft exposed parts of some shades, Jarad sneezes.

...Loudly

He rubs the back of his hand over his nose then continues fighting.

‘Someone is talking about me...it's probably Ella.’ He thinks as he bashes his staff into the head of another demon to get it away from a young male soldier with bright blonde hair and a sluggishly bleeding arm.

“Move!” He yelled, “You’re injured so go take some shelter man!”

The young man nods quickly before fleeing behind a ruined part of some sort of building. When he is running however he trips and lands right next to a small and lanky green demon with sharp claws. ‘Terror demon’

Jarad fires a burst of ice as the little terror brings down his arms and claws aiming at the boy’s fleshy neck. The ice freezes the demon mid swing and the boy scrambles away quickly. Another older, soldier grabs him by his arm and yanks him away from the fight and over to a small group of wounded soldiers all clustered in a circle to protect the each other’s backs.

After finishing the last of the demons off with a wave of fire, Jarad turns his marked hand to the rift and wills it to close. After a few agonizingly long moment it folds in on itself with a loud SMACK that echoes across the ruins.

A handsome man with curly blonde hair pulled stylishly back and warm caramel eyes steps in front of Liliana.

“Liliana! Well done, you managed to close the rift.”

Liliana shakes her head and gestures to Jarad with her hands, “Do not congratulate me Commander, this is the prisoners doing.”

“Wasn’t there two prisoners? And where is Cassandra?” He asks looking slightly worried.

“She is with the other prisoner, they took the mountain path.”

“I see,” The commander mumbles lowly before looking straight at Jarad, “I hope they are right about you. We risked and lost a lot of people getting you here.”

“I hope so too,” Jarad says softly looking into the commander's eyes.

“We’ll see soon enough,” he pauses before turning towards Lilina, “The way to the temple is cleared, we should move now.”

Liliana nods before looking to Jarad, “We should hurry.”

Jarad gestures with his hand for her to lead, “After you, mi’lady,” He gives her a devious smile. 

Liliana smiles slightly before turning away and gesturing with her hand for him to follow, “It is not far now.” 

After a few minutes of walking Varric starts up some conversation, “So, Shiny, are you innocent?”

“I don’t remember.”

Varric sighs loudly, “And THAT will get you every time. “You should have spun a story.”

Jarad smiles lightly, “If Cassandra was here she would say how that is something only YOU would have done.”

Lilina chuckles lightly, “She would.”

Varric barks out a laugh at that, “Yes, but a story would be more believable and result in less premature execution.” 

Jarad laughs loudly, “True, but Ella can’t lie to save her life.”

“Really?”

“Yeah...but she can twist the truths of the world fairly well, if it suits her purpose.”

“I see…”

Liliana suddenly stopped in front of a crack in stone, “This way leads to the foot of the breach and contains the first rift, Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be. I hope Ella has already made it.”

They step through the crack and appear on a stone balcony that had bright crystals of red shooting up through the numerous cracks. Jarad reaches out to touch a piece of the crystals when a rough hand grabbed him by the elbow and jerked him back roughly. 

Varric looked panicked while he still held tight to Jarad’s arm, “This is red lyrium, Nightingale!”

“I see it Varric.”

“But what is it doing here!?” He raised his voice, “Whatever you do don’t touch it, that stuff is pure evil,” he said as he pulled Jarad away.

They make their way down the winding ruins of the temple and avoid all the tempting bright red lyrium. 

When they reached a ledge, that offered a view of everything, Jarad carefully glanced around in a large circle.

“Where is Ella?”

~~~Ella~~~

ACHOO

“Ugh…’”Ella groans, “Someone was talking about me.”

“...Or this thick fog is messing with my sinuses...I hope that’s not the case.”

“What are these…’Sinuses’ you’re talking about?” Aks Cassandra, “I have never heard heard of such a thing.”

Ella hums slightly considering what to say, “Well….they are what happens when the environment abruptly changes. I messes with your nose, throat, and head. It makes everything really stuffy inside…”

“Stuffy inside?”

“Like it gets hard to breathe, or when you breathe it feels slightly labored...that’s the best way I can explain it.”

“Where did you obtain this knowledge?” Asks Solas, “ I have never heard of anything like it before.”

“I have to keep some secrets don’t I?” At their disapproving looks she amends, “I currently can’t trust you, I mean I woke up in a cell, but maybe I will tell you later when I do.” ‘Will I ever trust them? Should I?’

“Ma nuvenin,” Solas says quietly from her left, accepting her reasons for privicy.

“Ma serannas, Harhen,” Ella smiles gratefully at him.

They turned around a corner of the passage and Ella smelt the strong metallic scent of blood before she saw it.

“Well there is the missing patrol.”

Cassandra shakes her head, “That can’t be all of them, perhaps there are survivors up ahead?”

“We shall see,” confirms Ella as she lightly grasps the warrior woman’s shoulder, “If we can I want to save them.”

Cassandra nods gratefully, “Thank you.”

Solas interjects, “We must not dally. If we don’t close the breach more lives will be lost.”

Ella shoots a dark look at him, “Every life is worthwhile, and if we see them we must help them.”

Solas gives her a long steady look, “...As you wish, da’len.”

Ella shoots a glare at him before responding, “ I do, Harhen.”

The group continues on through the dark and foggy passages, encountering a few more groups of demons before entering into the light. As they follow the downward path they hear sounds of fighting coming from further ahead. 

Ella starts running toward the sound, “That might be them!” She shouts as she pulls out her daggers.

Two bodies lay ripped and carved in a bloody mess of to the side. One woman looks beat up as she fights to protect the two younger armored people behind her. Both of them look worn and bloodied.

Ella feels the smooth and cold sensation of a barrier sliding over her skin as she approaches the closest demon to her, a shade. She disappears and then feels a rush as she reappears behind it stabbing it cleanly in the back of it’s neck. Pivoting on her heel she slashes out with her other dagger, biting shallowly into a nearby terror. She follows up with a magically enhanced kick from her left leg straight into the gut of the terror, knocking it back slightly.

The terror brings it’s claws both down in a downward arc and Ella quickly tries to dodge, but only half succeedes. The claws slash violently across her lower right leg and she almost loses her balance and falls, but shifts her body so she rolls instead. She lands unsteadily on her feet and puts most of her pressure on her left leg.

Cassandra comes in at that moment and thrusts her sword straight through the green terror, causing it to melt down into a puddle on the floor that bubbles slightly.

As quick as she could, Ella hobbled up to the crackling rift. LIfting her hand she thought for it to close, fold on into itself, and cease to be. Pulling with the power in her hand, she closed the rift with a sound snap that echoed out into the mountain air.

Solas calmy walked to her side, “It seems you are becoming quite perficient at this.”

Ella smiled weakly at him, “I try.”

Solas cast a look at her, “Would you like me to heal you?”

She hesitated slightly before sighing softly, “Yes, please. Ma serannas.”

His hand glowed a dark blue for a moment before fading to a pale light blue with a darker blue at the center. He gestured for her to sit down so she sat on the edge of a broken stone wall and propped her right leg up carefully. His hands hovered over her pale leg and Ella immediately felt soothing waves of cool magic enter her skin and bones.

She feels her pain fade deep inside of her, then Solas takes his hands away and moves to stand. Ella gently grasps his arm in her hand and smiles up at him, “Seriously, thank you, Solas. I would have been in pain for awhile without you, friend.” She takes her hand off of his and turns to see the three remaining survivors of the patrol bowing low in front of her.

“Thank you for saving us,” Says the older woman who was defending the other two earlier, “We would have perished like the rest of our squad.”

Ella looks at them shocked for a moment before stuttering out, “I, umm...It was worth saving you...if we could,” She hesitates for a moment, “What is your name?”

The woman looks shocked for a moment before replying, “Anna, My Lady.”

“Anna,’ Repeats Ella to herself before flashing her a bright smile, “You have a pretty name. It was worth saving you.”

Anna smiles back a bit hesitantly, “Thank You,” she blushes while she looks away then clears her throat, “We should head back.”

Cassandra nods, “We cleared the mountain pass, you and your group can head back through there.”

Anna nods before motioning to her charges to follow her as she leads the way back into the mountain pass.

Ella shouts after them, “Be safe okay Anna! Maybe we can talk later.”

Then the group disappears behind a cliff’s edge and into the pass.

Ella turns her bright smile onto her little group, “Let’s go. I have a feeling Jarad beat us already.” She pouts slightly before turning on her heel.

If she would have glanced at her companions she would have seen Solas’ slight blush and Cassandra’s slightly girlish smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Translations~
> 
> Hahren- Elder  
> Da’len- Little on/ child  
> Ma serannas- My Thanks/ Thank you  
> Ma nuevenin- As you wish
> 
> I think Anna might have a bit of a crush on Ella…
> 
> To bad she gonna love an egg.
> 
> Anna will definitely appear later though. Flirty will ensue. 
> 
> ~LOVE~  
>  Miko


	5. hey bro!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...I'm alive!
> 
> Maybe...

Chapter 5~~

Ella, Cassandra, and Solas traveled the path for a bit longer. They followed the stone workings and arrived at what looked like freshly broken down buildings of rock and metal. As they walked Ella saw the charred remains of people who were trapped in the explosion. They glowed strangely, like hot embers, and their faces were forever frozen in horror.

‘These people...how could anyone do this?’ She looked at them for a long moment before closing her eyes softly. ‘I’m so sorry’

They came to a slightly collapsed passage and Cassandra spoke, “This will lead us to the center of the ruined temple, right below the breach.”

“Ok, we should hurry than. I want to stop this nightmare as quickly as I can,” Says Ella as she lightly runs her fingertips on the small etchings on stone wall.

Cassandra heads into the passage first, followed by Ella, than Solas brings up the rear...well he does have a nice one…

When they exit on the other side the first thing Ella notices in the crumbing pieces of marble and stone that she knew was once beautifully shaped arches and pillars….

Then she noticed the bright red stones that pulse like a heartbeat every few moments at even intervals, “What is this?” She asks as she reaches a hand out to touch them.

Cassandra snaps her hands over her wrist, “Don’t Touch It! This is red lyrium, it will drive you to do reckless and horrible things you would never have done before.”

Ella pulls her hand back slowly and Cassandra releases her before they continue on. They walk down in a spiral, and as they are rounding the last corner, Ella spots a familiar figure.

She takes off in a run, “Brother! You made it here before me,” She pouts as she stops her sprint right before him.

Jarad just rolls his violet eyes slightly before swinging one of his arms around her tightly, hugging her to him, and she hugs him back with just as much strength, “I’m happy you survived.”

“I am too.”

Liliana then appears by their side, “You made it,” She states with a small upturn of her lips.

Ella mock gasps, “You doubted us!? I feel offended!”

“Of course not, sis,” Jarad soothes, “...but we did beat you here. What’s my prize?”

She smacks him lightly in the shoulder, “There is no prize! Well, unless you count seeing me a prize, and it is. A really good prize too, wouldn’t you say Varric?”

Varric gives a wink and a large smile, “Right you are, Bright. Right you are. You are definitely a gift worth more than all the stars in the sky. You shine brighter too.”

Ella appears at Varric’s side and gives him a one armed hug, “Thanks Varric...Hey, think Bianca would share such a lovely dwarf like yourself?”

“Naw, I’m a one lady kind of dwarf.”

“As you say,” Ella smirks widely, “I’m sure Bianca can be...persuaded to share a handsome dwarf with someone who is worthy of him.”

Varric slips out of her hold, “She wouldn’t, she can get very jealous you know? Got to keep her happy.”

Jarad tips his head in acknowledgment, “Leave the poor crossbow and dwarf alone, Ella. We have to close this thing now. You know, before this all goes to hell.”

Cassandra looks around briefly then turns to Liliana, “Have our men take up a defensive position around the rift.”

Liliana nods sharply before spinning on her heel and going to talk to a small group of soldiers, who turns to her immediately when they hear her soft footsteps.

Cassandra then turns to Ella and Jarad, “This is our chance to end this. Are you ready?”

Jarad stares determinedly down at her, “As ready as I could ever be, I suppose.”

Ella nodded and looked towards the bright green rift for a moment before sighing softly, thinking of all the people that died because of this.

Solas steps up the stand beside them, “This rift is the first, seal it and perhaps we seal the breach.”

They all walk to the edge and Jarad jumps down first, followed by Ella who tells him to catch her. He doesn’t and she ends up on her ass pouting at him, “Ass.” The rest quickly follow after Ella scrambles up onto to her feet.

Then they hear loud booming voices and a shadowy image appears in front of them. Everything is obscured by shadow and all you can really see are bright red eyes swirling with madness and the figures of a three people.

“Now! Is the hour of our victory! Bring forth the sacrifice,” a crackling male’s voice rings out, commanding attention.

Then an earth shattering, well Thedas shattering, bang is heard, the sound of strong sturdy wood against hard, cold stone.

“What’s going on here?” A familiar female voice sounds out. Ella looks up in surprise. ‘I don’t remember this.’

“Run while you can! Warn them!” A loud female voice full of pain and desperation.

Cassandra lets out a shocked breath, “Most Holy…”

The male’s voice sounds detached, “We have an intruder. Slay the elf.”

Then they hear the pounding of footsteps that stop quickly and a male voice gasps out, “Ella, don’t go so fast! I’m bigger than you, so it's harder for me to move around as fast as you,” a pause, and shocked inhale of breath, and “ELLA!” sounding anguished.

Then the scene bursts apart in a shower of black and green.

Cassandra rounds on Ella and Jarad, “You were there! What happened? What are we seeing? Most holy called out to you, but then…Is what we are seeing true?”

Ella steps up to stand directly in front of her, “I, no, WE don’t know. We can’t remember.”

Jarad shakes his head slowly, “Why did I scream you name, sister?”

She looks at him then shrugs, “I don’t know. Maybe I was hurt?”

Solas interrupts whatever Jarad was going to say by walking up to stand before the rift, “Echos of what happened here. The fade bleeds into this place.” He turns to glance over the group before stopping on Ella and Jarad, “The breach is not sealed, but it is closed...albeit temporarily. I believe that with your marks the rift can be opened again, and then sealed safely,“ He looks straight at the seeker, “However, Opening the rift will most likely attract attention from the other side.”

Cassandra’s eyes widen slightly before she nods with determination, “That means demons! Stand ready!”

All the soldiers line up to make a human wall behind them, holding their swords high and shields out in front of them. The archers take up residence on the crumbling pillars and pull their bows as far back as they can. Varric find a nice spot as he takes out Bianca and loads her up with bolts. Solas stand slightly farther back and starts setting glyphs on the floor, and placing barriers over the people. Cassandra stands in front of the human wall, a look of determination on her face.

Ella and Jarad share a look, then as one both walk up to the rift They glance back once they get there and with a sharp nod from Cassandra they open their hands, stretch their fingers wide...and rip the rift open.

Out pops a giant ogre looking thing colored in shades of purple and black with lightning arching over it. Huge horns for battle adorn it’s head and it laughs, a deep evil sound, that bounces of the walls and resound in the helmets of all warriors and rogues alike.

Then it brings two cracking whips of pure, angry purple lightning down on Ella and Jarad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MUAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> *cough cough* ...err cliffhanger?
> 
> A bit of a shorter chapter but I do most of my works on the weekend...but then I had to write a research paper and I was like HELL NO! My hand hurt and I couldn’t even look at the computer screen…
> 
> I’m also sick….blame the pizza it is always the pizza. Look for more updates soon tho!
> 
> I plan to write a lot this weekend cause I love all of you so much!


	6. Orphans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella is a mother bear...or dragon.

~Chapter 8~

Ella pushed Jarad out of harm's way, but at the cost of offering up her own body to the two lightning tinged whips. As they connected with her back she went flying into the crumbling rock face, her side smacking painfully into a jagged edge of uncut rock. Spots danced across her vision and she could feel her spine crack loudly when she tried to move.

“Ughhh…” ‘damn that hurts, stupid Pride Demon.’

She hears a roar of rage and managers to slightly angle her head so she can see what is happening.

Jarad is trembling in rage and his fists clench tightly around his magical staff, so much so that it begins to crack and splinter. The cracks of wood pierce his flesh slightly, so he drops his staff and builds up a ball of bright blue magical energy that gathers and flows over and around his large grey hands. Ella can feel the power even from so far away, and watches as the bright blue fades to a light grey as it swirls around her brother.

Jarad forced his hands out in front of him, and in doing so, pushed the energy out of his body and into the Pride Demon’s lower leg. It falls to the floor in pain as it lets out a cry of its own rage. Bowing its head it starts to gather its own type magical energy around it, but instead of cool blue, it pulses a deep corrupted purple as it swirls in broken streams around the demon's feet.

Snapping out of their momentary shock, the archers start to let loose a volley of arrows into the demon’s hide, and a small swarm of warriors break from the protective wall to hack and slash at the demon’s legs, arms, and lower back.

Then Jarad is running over to Ella, “Solas! Get over here!” He slides on his knees slightly as he land next to her, gently maneuvering her to lie on her back as he lifts her head into his lap. His hands start to shine darkly, glinting like a coating polished blue stones under the light of the breach. Ella feels her pain ease slightly.

She smiles up at him slightly, “Now I know why Varric calls you Shiny…”

He mock glares at her, and shifts his hands slightly, “Well, I still don’t know why you are called Bright. You are darker than most things.” Ella feels her side go numb.

Solas appears beside her, his hands glowing a more subtle deep blue as he kneels beside her. She feels the pain lessen significantly as the sensation of his cool magic slid across her damaged skin, knitting bone, muscle, and flesh. 

Ella let out a sigh of relief as all of her pain melts away. She carefully lifted her upper body to lean onto Jarad. He helped her up slowly, supporting her light weight with his bulkier frame. Once she was back on her feet they turned back towards the Pride Demon who has risen and was attacking again.

Varric suddenly yelled out, “Catch, Bright!” He threw a red bottle at her from across the room, a poultice potion.

Jarad reached out and catches it for her before uncorking it, handing it to her he says, “Drink up!”

Ella grabs the bottle, takes a swig, and coughs violently, “Jarad, You said it wasn’t so bad! You damn liar!”

Jarad laughs at her pain, and even Solas chuckles lightly before going back to casting barriers at the soldiers still fighting the demon.

“Whatever,” She frowns(coughpoutscough), “We should probably help…”

“Yeah…” They share a look before both shrug, “Last one to get a hit in before it dies has to get dinner.”

“Deal.”

Jarad starts hurling fire, ice, and pieces of rock into the demon, it doesn’t work very well.

“The demon is connected to the rift,” yelled Solas glancing back at them, “Perhaps you could use the marks to disrupt that connection and weaken its armor.”

Ella shoots him a look, “How? You know what, I’m just gonna go for it.” She takes of in a run toward the rift before disappearing to the naked eye. 

She reappears below the rift and lifts her glowing green hand towards it, pulling with her magic. A shock wave passes through the floor, shaking the ground, and making the demon drop to it’s knees. It also kill any lesser demons that popped out.

Cassandra looks at Ella shocked before raising her sword with a battle cry, “Attack now! While it is vulnerable!”

The archers start to fire faster at her cry, and the soldiers start putting more power behind their swings. Solas and Jarad are still casting from farther away, but they are putting more power behind their attacks now.

Ella disappears again to appear beside the demon. She digs her daggers deep into the unprotected flesh of the back of it’s neck, then she drags down, using her body weight to her advantage. The blades bite deep, and the beast howls it's agony across the battlefield before falling forward to land on its face, twitching slightly. The soldiers barely move out of the way in time. 

Cassandra comes in with a war cry, swinging her sword down in a large arch toward the back of the neck, severing flesh from bone in a black, bloody spray. The demon stops moving before exploding out in a flash of burning emerald and dark violet. The energy swirls in a cyclone before moving up towards the breach. 

Cassandra turns to face Ella, “Quickly! Seal the breach!”

Jarad runs over to Ella and they both turn towards the bright green rift that cracks and shifts, forming shaded crystal like images that constantly shift and change. They both reach their hands up, her left and his right, and use the marks to force it closed. The world then explodes into blackness for Ella.

“Sister!”

~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~`~

Jarad rushed to Ella’s side, “Sister!”

Solas walked up to stand beside him, and his hand flashed a bright soothing blue briefly, “She is fine, likely exhausted, I would assume”

Jarad nods before trying to pick her up, only to hiss in pain that explodes from his left arm and hand.

Solas levels a look calmly at him, “I do not think their is much anybody can do to heal that, currently. However, I could numb it a bit for you, if you would like.”

Jarad nods slightly, lifting his hand up slightly into Solas’ glowing hands. He feels his arms go numb before looking around, frowning, then looks back at Solas, “Will you carry her? I do not trust any of these other men to do so.”

Solas looks shocked for a moment before glancing around as well, catching some of the male soldiers looking at the unconscious girl with wonder, awe, and no small amount of lust. Well, some of the females were too, but he was sure that the men were a bit more worrying. 

He nodded sharply before carefully shifting Ella’s weight from Jarad’s arms to his own. He slowly stood up with her in his arms, and shifted her slightly to get a better grip on her. He positioned his arms underneath her knees and back, and started walking towards the seeker.

Jarad followed shortly, stifling a pained gasp whenever he jostled his arm a bit too much.

Cassandra walks up to them, “You can place her in the cart, on the clean stretcher. I won’t let anything happen to her,” She shoots a look at Jarad’s right arm that clench tightly to his other, marked, one, “You should also get in the cart, though you will not get a stretcher.”

“I’ll sit by her side than,” He said, “Thank You. Solas could you put her...”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

While on the ride back to Haven, Jarad passes out against the wagon’s sides.

~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~~~`~~~~~`~~~~`~~~`~~`~`~~`~~~`~~`~

Ella woke up alone, in a creaky bed, in a unfamiliar house, and in a hideously brown suit like piece of clothing.

Then a female elf with short curly red hair came in, whistling slightly to herself, and carrying a wooden box full of items. She shut the door with her foot as quietly as she could, turned around, saw Ella sitting up in the bed, and dropped the box on her own feet.

“Ow!”

Ella jumped out of bed, stumbling a bit on her numb legs, “Are you alight?”

The elf woman looked panicked for a moment, “Oh! I didn’t know you were awake, I swear!”

Ella looked shocked for a moment then concerned, “It really is no problem, but is your foot okay,” she then looked thoughtful, “Also what is your name?”

The woman took a small step back in surprise before replying, “Meriva is my name, My Lady! I’m fine, I am but a humble servant.”

Ella looks around, “Where am I? Why am I here?”

The girl drops down to her knees and bends her head to touch the floor, “You are in Haven, My Lady. They say you and the Qunari with you saved us! The breach stopped growing, just like the mark on your hand.”

Ella places a finger to her cheek in thought, “I see…” She frowns down at the woman, “Get off the floor, please. You don’t need to…”

The elf scrambled up quickly towards the door, “I’m sure Lady Cassandra would want to know your awake. At once she said, at once!”

“Alright, where is she?”

“In the chantry with the chancellor. At once, she said,” The elf was about to run out the door..

“Wait!” She stopped, “Do you have any other clothes, some that aren't so...tight…and ugly...and brown.”

The girl blinked with her big eyes a few times before running over to a desk and rummaging through it. She pulled out a black pair of pants and a dark blue shirt, “You are a bit bigger than a normal elf, but not quite big enough for human clothes. To get some better fitting clothes you should get some measurements and custom clothes,” She stopped for a moment, “But I’m not telling you what to do, My Lady.”

It was Ella’s turn to blink, “Of course not. Could you help me unbutton this?”

“Yes, My Lady.”

After a long and tenuous battle, they wrestled the ugly clothes off and put on the blue shirt and black pants.

It was still very tight and hugged all her curves, and not necessarily the good ones. The elf girl frowned for moment before running to the door and grabbing a long, dark brown coat with navy trim.

Ella smiles, “That will work!”

After asking where the chantry was, Ella set out to find Cassandra. As she was walking through the village people moved around her so that she could have a clear path. The soldiers tilted their heads and banged their hands over their chest. 

Ella started walking faster.

When she rounded a corner she saw Varric, and standing next to him him was Jarad.

She walked quickly up to him, before tapping his shoulder.

“Brother!”

He turned, startled, before smiling widely, “Hey, Your finally awake! I was worried, even though Solas said you would be fine.”

She stood beside him, “What do you mean?”

“You have been getting your beauty sleep for about three days, I mean, I know you love your beauty sleep, but isn’t that a bit overkill?”

Ella punched him in the arm, “Three days...that is quite a bit of time, huh?”

“Yep.”

She shakes her head before turning to Varric, “Hello Varric.”

“Good afternoon to you, Bright. Shiny here was just telling me about how worried he was for you.”

Jarad interjects loudly, “Come on we should go to Cassandra.”

Ella laughs, “Sure.”

They start walking towards the chantry together, “Bye Varric!”

“See you later, Bright and Shiny!”

As they are walking Ella starts talking, “So what are we gonna do?”

Jarad looks down at her and lets out a humming sound of confusion.

“Are we gonna do anything different? Should we follow the script? Do things different? We could...save people.”

“We could.”

“Are we going to?”

Jarad hums lowly, “Yes, I think we should.”

Ella turns to him sharply, “But what are we gonna change.”

He grabbed her shoulders tightly with both hand and bent down slightly to look into her eyes, “Where you go, I go. What you do, I will do my best to follow. I’m your big brother so I have to take care of you right? Besides you need someone by your side to help you make decisions, but on most things I’m going to let you decide. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna let you do something stupid, cause I’ll stop you if you try, but I got your back.”

“I’ll still listen to your council on the big things, brother. Most of the little things too”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you didn’t I just might question if you’re still my little sister.”

He let go of her shoulders and they starting walking towards the chantry again.

When they came around the bend they heard a loud feminine voice yell, “Lissa!”

Then Ella was knocked down into the hard, packed down by hundreds of feet, snow by a small, but strong, weight.

“I’m so sorry, Herald! Lissa get up quickly, that is the Herald.” A middle aged woman starts to run over with a baby in her arms.

Ella blinks slowly up from her spot on the ground before realizing she has a weight in her arms. She looks down and realizes it's a little human girl, who looks to be about six or seven.

The young girl groans, “Owie,” then looks up with big bright blue eyes that widen in shock when the woman’s voice reaches her and then she tries to scramble away, “I’m sowwy Hewald!” She rocks backwards when she loses her balance.

Ella gently reaches out and grabs her arms to stop her, “It’s alright little one, it was an accident. I’m sure you were just having a bit of fun. What’s your name? My name is Ella.”

The girl looks down shyly, “Lissa…” She mumbles.

The other woman finally reaches them, “Lissa!” she screams shrilly, “Get off of the Herald now!” She reaches down with her unoccupied hand to grasp Lissa’s forearm roughly. Lissa cringes and gasps slightly, “I’m sowwy Madame Mawen, pwease stop giving me Owies!”

Ella glares at the woman, “Let her go, now!” ‘How dare this bitch hurt a child, an innocent child!’

The woman looks up shocked, “My Herald, she is nothing but an orphan and-”

“She said let her go, madame.” Jarad steps up.

She glances quickly in between Ella and Jarad, “I-I...as you wish.” She lets go of the girl and Lissa drops to her small, shaking knees and grabs her slightly bleeding arm.

The woman starts to walk away, but Jarad interrupts her, “Give us the baby to, as you obviously can’t care for children.”

The woman walks back with a scowl and gives Jarad the child in her arms before stomping away angrily.

Ella crouches down to her knees, “Lissa, do you want to come with us so we can heal your ‘Owies’?”

Lissa glances around unsure, “But why would you want to help a-a worthless, unwanted orphan like me?”

Ella opens her arms, “You are not worthless orphan, you are a loved child. Will you come with us so we can show you that as we heal you?”

Lissa looks at Jarad and the baby before turning to look at the ground. She mumbles barely above a whisper, “Can my baby bwother come to? The other Hewald is holding him…”

“Of course! What is his name?”

“...Dilan…”

“Ok, let’s go than! Will you allow me to carry you?” Lissa nods before throwing herself into Ella’s arms, “It huwts, Miss Hewald.”

Ella looks sadly down at the girl before ruffling her bright blonde hair, “I know da’len, but we are going to fix that okay?”

“What does da’len mean?”

She smiles down at her, “Da’len means little one, it is Elvhen.”

“It is weally pwetty!”

“You are really pretty.” Lissa smiles widely with a missing front tooth, “You weally pwetty, Miss Hewald!”

Ella chuckles lightly, “Just call me Ella okay? None of this Herald business.”

The little girl looks confused for a minute before smiling again, “Auntie Ella is really pretty.”

Ella smiled at her before turning to Jarad who was rocking the small boy in his arms, “That is Jarad okay? He is my brother.”

Lissa nodded before waving wildly at him, “Hello Uncle Ja-Jawed,” She pouts, “Your name is hard to say.”

Jarad laughs loudly, “You can just call me Jay, Lissa.”

“Okay uncle Jay!” She chirps.

Ella smiled lightly before addressing Jarad, “Do you know where the healer’s tent is?”

“No, but I do know where Solas is, and he did a pretty good job at patching you up.”

'Yes let us go see the god, but not a god, of the elves. You know the one you have a crush on?'

Ella sighed lightly, seeing she had no choice, before nodding, “Lead on then, brother.”

Jarad nodding before turning and walking off, and Ella followed, bouncing the girl on her side. She giggled loudly and started to play with Ella’s hair.

In no time at all they came across three wooden cabins that formed a box like shape that opened to the rocky path that connected Haven. Jarad strolled right up to the one on the right and knocked on the door.

Ella heard the footsteps before the door opened to reveal Solas, who was wearing what he usually does in the game. ‘He does kind of look like a hobo…a hot one’

Solas glanced at the baby in Jarad's arms before raising an eyebrow, “What would you- You are awake,” He notices Ella...then he sees the kid in her arms as well and raises his other eyebrow.

Ella scratches the back of her head with her free hand, “Well you see, umm...we don’t know where the healer’s are, but we know you can heal, and Lissa got hurt...er, that’s the little girl in my hands, and we were hoping you could heal her?” She rushes out in one breath.

He blinks in shock for a minute before nodding, “ma nuvenin,” He opens the door wider, before stepping aside to let them pass.

Ella steps in first followed by Jarad. She glances around and notices the clutter of books everywhere, but it is generally neat, “I gather you like to read?”

He blushes slightly before collecting a small pile of books and moving them to a wooden desk in the corner, “You caught me as I was organizing. You can set her down on the bed.”

Ella does so before ruffling Lissa’s hair again and sitting beside her, “My friend Solas is going to heal you now, da’len.”

Lissa nods before frowning and leaning forward to whisper into Ella’s ear, “What does ma nuvenin mean?”

Ella does the same, “It means as you wish.”

“Is it Elvhen again?”

Ella nods with a smile.

Solas walks over then and sits on the other side, “Can I see where you were hurt little one?”

Lissa shows her hurt arm to Solas, and he frowns slightly, “Those look like...where did you obtain these da’len?” He asks softly, reaching out to gently grab her arm.

“Madame Mawen.”

“Who is-,”He turns to Ella, “Who is Madame Mawen?”

“A Bit-”

“Madame Mawen work at the orphanage mister Solas. She is really mean to all the kids.”

“I see”...he frowns still looking at the marks on her arm, “Do you any other injuries da’len?”

Lissa shakes her head quickly, “No, she says that whores with less marks make better money.”

Solas almost drops her arm in shock, and turns to look at her sadly. Ella lets out a growl from deep within her throat.

“...What is a whore? Madame Mawen would never tell me when I asked.”

Ella lets out a breath, “Nothing you will have to worry about any longer, Da’len. How many orphans are there? How many caretakers?”

Lissa tilts her head to the side, “Only Madame Mawen, and about six boys and six girls, including me and my brother. The oldest is thirteen years old and my brother is the youngest! He is only a year old!...I’m six!”

“Six what? Months?” Ella teases.

“What! No, Six years!” Lissa pouts up at her.

“Okay, I believe you.”

Solas clears his throat, “Okay Da’len I’m going to use magic to heal this, is that alright?”

Lissa’s blue eyes go wide, “YES! I always wanted to see magic. Oh please mister Solas, show me!”

Solas chuckles lightly, “I will, but only if you calm down da’len.”

Lissa goes rigid and straight, Solas sighs lightly with a small smile, “Breathe Da’len.” She takes in a big gulp of air.

“Just relax,” He says holding her arm in one hand and hovering the other one over her wound. It glows a soft and gently blue, and her eyes go wide, “So pretty…” The marks start closing quickly until their is nothing left on her skin. “Wow…”

Ella chuckles then gets a glint in her eyes, “How would you like to stay with Solas while Jarad and I go see someone.”

“Can brother stay?”

Solas sighs before nodding, “Yes your brother can stay as well da’len.”

“Yay! Uncle Solas can you show me more magic?”

Solas looks shocked for a moment before nodding, “If you would like.”

Jarad hands of Dilan to Solas, who looks shocked for a moment. He looks down at Lissa, “Your brother is an elf?”

She nods quickly, “Yep! My mother was an elf, but my daddy was a human, and his mommy was my mommy, but his daddy was an elf.”

Ella notices that her ears are slightly pointed, not a lot, but a little. She could easily pass as a human girl.

Solas hums to himself before rising from the bed, “Well, we shall see Ella and Jarad soon.”

Ella nods before giving a quick hug to Lissa, “I’ll be back soon, Da’len.” She hugs back tightly, “Don’t forget about me Auntie Ella.”

“I won’t, I promise. Pinky Promise!”

Lissa tilts her head confused, “What’s a pinky promise.”

'Do they them in Thedas? Well, they do now!' 

Ella hooks her pinky with Lissa’s, “It is when two people make a promise like this. It is a special type of promise, so I have to come back.”

“Okay! Pinky Promise!” Ella stood up.

Jarad walks out the door, followed by Ella who mouths quick thank you to Solas who nods before making a magical bird fly around the room. The last thing Ella hears as she leaves the Cabin to join Jarad was Lissa’s happy giggles.

‘She is so adorable...I have to have a word to Cassandra about this Mawen...I want her gone, no I want her dead.’

Ella turns to Jarad who frowns lightly then nods, “We won’t let this stand.”

Ella shakes her head, “No, we won’t.” Then she leads the way back to the chantry.

Everyone around them swears they see a mother dragon going into protection mode when they see her.

“Woe be on anyone who gets in her way,” Whispers one woman to another.

The other woman pales before rushing to the orphanage, she has to get out of here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Er...I'm alive...maybe
> 
> So, I write on google drive on my laptop...I wasn't connected to the internet, closed the tab, lost around 10,000 words worth of story and was so mad I didn't write anything till today. sorry, but I wasn't looking forward to rewriting all that, so I went a different direction with the story. So a good thing? Maybe...
> 
> this is unedited so sorry for all the mistakes, point them out if you see them please!


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